Scale mark mat for putting practice

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a rectangle mat for putting practice. The mat includes a cylindrical stopper, an imitative hole cup mark thereon, and a putting line straightly drawn along the center on the mat and divided by the square scales for eye measurement. According to the present invention, three requisites of putt for hitting the golf ball to the intended direction and distance; a) the putter is swung straight along the putting line; b) the golf ball is stroked with the putter face square to the putting line; and c) the backswing length is accurately determined according to the condition of the putt; are practiced by; first, numerating and calculating the backswing length for the putt by the number of the scales, second, by objectifying and determining the backswing spot and throughswing spot on the putting line, then, by putting straight from the backswing spot to the throughswing spot for one second by the seesaw movement of the shoulders, keeping and stopping the putter face square to the putting line at each of the two spots. And the putting techniques are checked and improved by observing the speed and trajectory of the ball passing the imitative hole cup mark.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean UtilityModel Application No. 20-2004-0024001 filed on Aug. 23, 2004 in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the entire content of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to golf practice apparatus. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a putting practice matfor improving putting techniques in the room.

(b) Description of the Related Art

Golf is a game in which players hit a ball from the teeing-off groundinto the hole on the green through a fairway with three types of golfclubs; the Wood, the Iron, and the Putter. It has been a highly popularsports game.

One round of a golf game consists of 18 holes, and the par strokes are72 for the 18 holes. Almost half the strokes in a round of golf arelikely to be putts, and accordingly, the putting stroke is veryimportant in a golf game.

Generally, a putting skill involves following two factors.

First, it depends on the ability to determine the initial speed and thedirection for the golf ball to roll when you putt.

The greens in the golf courses have various slopes in variousdirections, which break, accelerate or decelerate the stroked balls. Inaddition, various factors such as length and kind of the turf, weatherconditions, and optical illusion caused by surroundings affect adverselyin determining the direction and speed of the golf ball. Furthermore,the direction of the grain of the green and a horizontally extendedslope can cause the direction of the golf ball to be curved. Asdescribed, assessing the green is very difficult.

However, while playing a game of golf, you may not measure the greenconditions by tools according to the golf rules, and it can only bestudied by yourself with your own experience and senses. Accordingly,you may improve the ability to assess the green conditions only throughyour actual experience on the green.

Secondly, you must have the ability to stroke the golf ball accuratelyto an intended direction at an intended initial speed.

No matter how accurately you assess the green conditions, if you don'tactually hit the ball to the intended direction at the intended speedlike a robot without delicate errors, the putt will fail. Accordingly,you should improve your putting techniques to be sufficiently proficientin the putting stroke.

For the purpose of hitting the golf ball in the intended direction atthe intended speed, an arc trajectory putting method that swings aputter by rotating the shoulders perpendicularly to the spine and withthe feeling of the hands has conventionally been used because it hasbeen regarded as the most effective way to putt the golf ball. However,the putting by the arc trajectory is a little inconsistent as mentionedlater, and when basing on such feelings of the hands which can beambiguous and subjective, putting cannot be finely controlled, andtherefore the putting is usually not so consistent nor repeatable.

A straight putting method is for swinging a putter head straight, whenviewed from above the ball, like a pendulum by seesaw movement of theshoulders. In this method, three requisites for the putt with theintended direction and speed can be objectified for further successfulperformance of the putting stroke. Here, to objectify means to presentsomething perceptible or manifest externally by putting a vague ideainto words, that is to say, to define and characterize the ambiguous andsubjective feels into observable criteria (aims) such as straight targetline, square clubface at start and finish of the putt, or calculatedlength of swing that is uninfluenced by feeling, guess, or personalprejudice so that anyone can follow.

Hence if the three requisites for the putt are objectified as below soas to precisely define the aims and the putting is performed accordingto the defined aims, the putting stroke can become more stable andaccurate, and a success rate of the putting stroke will further beincreased.

The first requisite is to straightly swing the putter along a puttingline when viewed from above the ball.

When a putting trajectory is in the shape of an arc, the hands or armswill manipulate the putt unconsciously to compensate the centrifugalforce of the putter head at the time hitting the ball, and therefore,the arc trajectory of the swing is unstable and the length of the swingis inaccurately controlled. Furthermore, an opening and closing of aputter face is caused. As a result, the accuracy of the direction of theball is reduced at the time of impact. In contrary to the arctrajectory, the length of the swing may be accurately controlled and theputter face may also remain square to the putting line at the time ofthe impact if you align the lineup line of the ball to the target pointand you swing the putter head straight along an imaginary putting lineextended backward and forward from the lineup line of the golf ball.

Accordingly, in order to objectify a straight trajectory of the puttingstroke, the swing should be performed straight, when viewed from abovethe ball, from the determined backswing spot to the throughswing spotafter determining the backswing spot and throughswing spot on theimaginary putting line.

The second requisite is to maintain the putter face in a square positionto the putting line at the time of the impact.

At the time of the impact, the ball is hit in a direction square to theputter face, and therefore the putter face should remain in a squareposition to the putting line in order to send the ball in the intendeddirection. However, according to the conventional arc trajectory puttingmethod, putting stroke is apt to become unstable because it is difficultto manipulate the putter face to be precisely square at the time of theimpact with the feeling of the hands. Whereas, the putter face maynaturally be square at the time of the impact when the putter face ismaintained in a square position to the putting line both at thebackswing spot and at the throughswing spot.

Accordingly, a square impact motion can be objectified by maintainingthe putter face to be square both at the backswing spot and at thethroughswing spot while putting the ball.

The third requisite is to accurately control a backswing length of theputting stroke according to a desired travel distance of the ball.

There are various methods for controlling strength of the impact. Theimpact strength may be controlled by controlling the length of swingtime based on the feeling of the hands without having to change theswing length, or by controlling the swing length based on his biorhythmwithout changing the swing time. In addition, the both methods may becombined to control the impact strength. Typically, the travelingdistance of the ball is regulated by controlling the impact strengthbased on the feeling of the hands, and the stroking time is controlledbased on the biorhythm.

However, it is suggested that the time of one second be adopted as afixed standard rather than the biorhythm because the biorhythm tends tovary. In addition, the putting stroke based on feeling of the hands isnot consistent nor repeatable since it is difficult to precisely controlthe impact strength. However, when the putting stroke is performed forone second with controlled length of the swing, the putting becomes moreconsistent and repeatable, since the traveling distance of the ball maybe precisely and accurately controlled by precisely controlling thebackswing length (and the same length of the throughswing) whileswinging for exactly one second, because the backswing length on thestraight putting line determines the impact strength, the impactstrength determines the ball's speed, and the ball's speed is inproportion to the traveling distance of the ball.

Accordingly, the impact strength can be controlled and objectified byevaluating the amplitude, that is, the length of the backswing of theputt in numerical value employing the System of Scales Coefficient latermentioned.

The posture and putting motion should be changed as follow to sufficethe objectified three requisites of the putt. As to the putting posture,the upper body is bended, knees are straight, hips are pulled back,arms, elbows, and wrists are fixed on the shoulders, so that the puttermay not become loose while swinging.

The stance, knees, hips, shoulders, and eyes are parallel with thetarget line.

In this posture, the body is in a fixed position except the shoulders,and the swing is performed by the shoulders without any help from thearms or hands.

For a stable swing, only the shoulders should preferably be used inswinging the putter. When the wrists, hands, and/or fingers are usedtogether with the shoulders, the putting stroke may fail because powerbecome unbalanced and unexpected motion can be resulted. It is difficultto control the backswing length when the backswing length is controlledby the feeling of the hands. Specifically, it is more difficult toconcurrently control the backswing length and the direction of the ball.

For the backswing and throughswing, the shoulders should rise and fallvertically, when viewed from aside, by the seesaw movement of theshoulders, to move the putter straightly along the putting line and tomaintain the putter face square to the putting line.

If the elbows and shoulders move back and forth while swinging, theshoulders and body will be twisted in such manner that the putter ispulled inward and thereby leaving the putting line, and the putter facewill not remain square to the putting line because of the opening andclosing of the putter face.

In addition, in order to maintain the straight movement and the squareposition of the putter, a pentagon formed by the shoulders, arms,elbows, and hands should be firm during the stroke.

The putting speed should be gradually and gently increased because anabrupt change in the putting speed decreases the success rate of theputting.

It is also required that the lengths of backswing and throughswing areequal to each other, and the ball is hit solidly.

The above three requisites for the putt may be exercised in a room fromtime to time.

Various putting practice apparatuses have been introduced as follows:U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,672,974 and 6,837,802 for practicing the puttingposture and handling; U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,141 for practicing putting andswinging; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,669,572 and 6,672,971 for providing asimulated green to help a golfer practice putting; and U.S. designPatent No. 486,199 for providing a mat for measuring the golf ball'sspeed. However, there isn't any thing adequate to practice theobjectified three requisites of putt.

For example, there isn't any mat that has the putting line straight tothe hole mark along the center on the mat, and that has the square scalemarks that divide the putting line by the interval of the actual size ofgolf ball. If the putting line on the mat is not equally divided, it isdifficult to learn definitely the sense of the backswing length. Morespecifically, it is impossible to utilize the system of evaluating ofthe backswing length in numerical value (number of scales) that is laterdescribed in detail.

Even if the putting line has the scales, if it is divided in centimetersand inches which are normal units for measuring the error rate of an eyemeasurement is increased as compared with the scales of the actual sizeof the golf ball when putting in a actual green.

The conventional of putting practice mats have been made to emphasizethe practice of putting the ball into the hole cup, so it is notsuitable for practicing long or medium distance putting. But this mathas a cylindrical stopper and the putting line 3.3 m long that enable topractice the putts of not only 3 m and in, the crucial distance of puttfor lowering the scores, but also over 3 m. And, in the real puttingsituation on a green, most of the putts break due to the complexconditions of the green, and therefore the putting stroke is performedby determining the imaginary target on the intended putting line to puttstraight to and aligning the lineup line of the ball to it. Therefore,putting practice should provide an ability to cope with such situation.But every part of the straight putting line of this mat points to thetarget mark, saving you the trouble of aligning the line-up line of yourball toward the target mark by just placing the ball centrally on thelineup line every time you practice. However, the conventional puttingpractice mat does not provide a function for such situation.

In addition, the conventional of putting practice mat does not providemeans to check whether the putter face is square to the putting linewhile addressing and swinging the putter, and therefore it has beendifficult to find and correct the errors in keeping square putter face.But the square scale marks of this mat enable you to see if yourclubface is aligned square to the target line at address, at the backswing spot, and at the throughswing spot during the stroke.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a scale marks mat for practicing puttingtechniques for the three requisites of the putt.

The present invention discloses a putting line that is over 10 feet longand straightly drawn in the center on the rectangular mat and that isdivided by scale marks so as to evaluate the swing length in numericalvalue of the number of the scales; an imitative hole cup mark marked atan end of the putting line on the rectangular mat; and a stopper formedby rolling the end of the mat around a cylindrical object or a pipe tostop the stroked balls.

In addition, the rectangular mat is non-woven fabric with turfy effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view for representing a configuration of amat according an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed diagram of scales in the mat shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a fragmentary plan view of a golf ball having a lineup linefor indicating a direction to a target line.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram for representing an imitative hole cup mark onthe mat shown in FIG. 1

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view for exemplifying the mat being rolled inorder to be stored.

FIG. 6 shows a side view for describing how the speed of golf ball isreduced by a stopper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for representing a configuration of a mataccording to an exemplary embodiment. An end of the mat 2 forms astopper 4 by rolling the end of the mat around a cylindrical object (ora pipe). A putting line 6 is drawn along the center of the mat 2, andscale marks 10 for eye measurement are drawn perpendicular to theputting line 6 while equally dividing the putting line 6. An imitativehole cup mark 8 is drawn at an end of the putting line 6.

The length of the putting line 6 is 3.3 m which is calculated by adding3 m required for a substantial practice to increase a success rate ofputting to 0.3 m for allowing a backswing margin. A space of 0.5 m isprovided between the stopper 4 and the imitative hole cup mark 8 so thata stroked golf ball may not bounce back to the imitative hole cup mark8, and therefore the golf ball may be spread around the stopper 4.

The width of the mat 2 is 40 cm which is a width for placing toes at aside of the mat 2 without standing thereon, and accordingly you may beaccustomed with a putting stance parallel to the putting line 6. Inaddition, a blank is provided between the putting line 6 and the puttingstance, and therefore the putting practice may be also performed on thatblank as mentioned later. The putting practice may be performed withequal convenience for a left-handed golfer on the opposite side of themat 2 because the putting line 6 is drawn along the center of the mat 2.

The mat 2 is sheet-shaped and formed with a non-woven fabric of about5-10 mm thickness having turfy effect on its surface. The backside ofthe mat 2 is coated with a polyethylene layer so that the putting linemay be maintained to be straight.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed diagram for representing the putting line 6 andthe scale marks 10, where the scale marks 10 are drawn by lines extendedperpendicular to the putting line 6. Therefore a golfer may check if theputter face maintains to be square to the putting line 6 while swingingthe putter.

Each interval between the scale marks 10 is formed corresponding to adiameter (42.67 mm) of a golf ball B, which approximately equals anincrease of a backswing length required for putting the golf ball B byone more footstep in a normal horizontal green, because the golf ball Bis the only thing for the unit of eye measurement in the actual green.

Accordingly, the backswing length is accurately controlled withoutdepending on your senses because the backswing length is evaluated inthe unit of the golf ball size, calculating how many times an expectedbackswing length is greater than the diameter of the golf ball by usingthe scale marks. In addition, when the backswing is accustomed by usingthe mat according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention,it can further be accurately controlled to half a golf ball size andeven smaller.

A length L of a scale mark is 108 mm so that it is easily distinguishedwhether the putter face is square to the putting line, and the scalemarks 10 will look like a lane elongated toward the imitative hole cupmark 8.

Widths of the putting line 6 and the scale marks 10 are as narrow asabout 2 mm. The lineup line 12 of the golf ball B shown in FIG. 3 isaligned toward a target point in the actual green (a logo that may beregarded as the lineup line 12 is usually drawn on a golf ball, and ifnot, you may draw a lineup line on the ball). However, according to anembodiment of the present invention, the center of the golf ball B maybe put on the putting line 6, and then the golf ball B is putted alongthe putting line 6 without cumbersomely aligning the lineup line 12toward the target point. In addition, it is easily observed whether thecenter line of the putter is deviated from the putting line 6 and theputter face is deviated from the scale marks 10, so that a golfer mayimmediately notice that the putter face is not square to the center lineof the ball.

The imitative hole cup mark 8 is flatly marked on the mat 2 as shown inFIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 4, the imitative hole cup mark 8 of 108 mmdiameter, a medium circle 14 of a 42.67 mm diameter (equal to thediameter of the golf ball), and a small circle 16 of a 10 mm diameterare concentrically drawn so that accuracy of the putting may be easilyconfirmed by observing trajectory and speed of the golf ball B. Thetriple circles may be drawn in different colors.

The imitative hole cup mark 8 is for helping a golfer being accustomedto a real hole cup size. When the stroked golf ball B passes on themedium circle 14, it will be regarded as if the golf ball B fells intothe hole.

For practices of putting, the medium circle 14 may be regarded as thetarget point when the golf ball B is putted from the far right side ofthe mat 2, and the small circle 16 may be regarded as the target pointwhen the golf ball B is putted from near the left side of the mat 2which is close to the hole cup mark 8.

The stopper 4 is formed by rolling the end of the mat 2 the cylindricalobject 18 (or a pipe). A diameter of the stopper is approximately threetimes of the diameter of the golf ball B, and a length thereof is equalto the width (i.e. 40 cm) of the mat 2.

According to the configuration, the mat 2 is conveniently used andstored because it may simply be rolled or unrolled with the cylindricalobject 18 as shown in FIG. 5. Therefore, after the usage, it may simplybe rolled up and stored.

In addition, the mat 2 may be neatly and easily taken good care of itssides as FIG. 5 because the length of the cylindrical object 18 is equalto the width (40 cm) of the mat 2.

A diameter of the rolled stopper 4 for preventing the stroked ball frombeing escaped from the mat 2 is established to be greater than thediameter of the golf ball B as illustrated by an arrow in FIG. 6 (2.5times through 3 times the diameter of the golf ball is appropriate).Accordingly, the ball collided with the stopper 4 rebounds to the ground(i.e. toward a bottom side of the mat 2) because of a contact angleformed by a diameter difference of the stopper 4 and the golf ball B.Therefore, a rebounding distance becomes short. In addition, a rotatingdirection of the golf ball B is reversed when the ball hits the stopper4, thereby further shortening the rebounding distance. Moreover, sincethe mat 2 rolled about twice around the cylindrical object (or a pipe)18 functions as a buffer, the stroked golf ball B does not travel farfrom the stopper 4. As a result, the previous stroked balls do nothinder subsequent putting.

You may effectively practice objectifying the three requisites of theputt by using the mat of the above configuration according to theexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

While the lineup line or the logo of the ball should be aligned toward atarget point on the actual green, the center of the golf ball B may besimply aligned on the putting line 6 without cumbersomely aligning thelineup line 12 toward the target point according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The stance is set with its center in front of thescale mark at a desired distance from the hole cup mark 8, and the backof the golf ball B is placed thereon. You align the center line of theputter on the putting line 6, so that the putter face is aligned to besquare to the putting line 6. (While playing a real game, you shouldalign the center line of the putter straight to the lineup line of theball 12.)

For the backswing, the backswing length is firstly calculated, and thena backswing spot at the rear of the ball and a throughswing spot at infront of the ball are determined on the putting line 6 (in an actualgame, on an imaginary putting line extending backward and forward fromthe lineup line of the ball) by looking sideways without moving thehead, wherein the backswing spot is backward from the ball by a distancecorresponding to a backswing length calculated with a number of thescales, and the throughswing spot is forward from the ball by the samelength as the backswing length. Then, the backswing is performedstraight along the putting line 6, and stopped at the backswing spot. Atthis time, the golfer checks whether the putter face is square to thescale marks 10.

It is important to perform the backswing by the seesaw movement of theshoulders. In the seesaw movement of the shoulders for the backswing,the left shoulder is vertically lowered, when viewed from aside, to pushback the left palm and the putter head straight along the target line,and concurrently, the right shoulder is vertically raised to square theclubface. A swing trajectory may be incurved and the putter face isopened if the shoulders or the upper body are twisted a bit.

At the backswing spot, after reconfirming the predetermined throughswingspot with the eyes looking sideways and without moving the head, youshould hit the golf ball with the putter head moving straight along theputting line 6 from the backswing spot toward the throughswing spot, andthen stop swinging at the predetermined throughswing spot with theputter face being square to the putting line 6. In this case also, theswing should be performed only by the seesaw movement of the shoulderswithout twisting the body or shoulders. In such a seesaw movement of theshoulders for hitting the ball, the right shoulder is vertically loweredto push forward the right palm and the putter head straight along thetarget line, and concurrently, the left shoulder is vertically raised tosquare the clubface.

Regardless of whether the swing is small or large, the putting should beperformed for one second.

To adjust the swing tempo, you should swing through 4 steps for 4seconds (1 second for confirming the backswing spot, 1 second for thebackswing and check, 1 second for confirming the throughswing spot, and1 second for the hit-through and check, breathing out in (for 1 second),out in, out in, out in, and counting tick-tack, tick-tack for 4seconds).

After the putting stroke is finished, you should keep your head stillfor a moment without looking at the stroked golf ball B.

The backswing length required for the expected speed (or, an expectedtraveling distance) of the golf ball B is calculated by the “System ofScale Coefficient” using the scales according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention. In the System of Scale Coefficient, thebackswing length is determined by two factors: a required travelingdistance of the golf ball; and the condition of the green. The distanceand green condition are respectively numerated by a number of footstepsand a scale coefficient. Then the number of scales representing thebackswing length is calculated by multiplying the two factors withoutdepending on the sense of the golfer. That is, the ball is not puttedbased on the sense but putted based on the numerically calculatedbackswing length. The System of Scale Coefficient is as follow.

Firstly, the required traveling distance of the golf ball is measured bythe number of your normal footsteps while observing the conditions ofthe green.

Secondly, the conditions of the green are assessed and numerated by thescale coefficient. Your personal coefficient is required to be measuredbeforehand. Here, the personal coefficient means the increase of thebackswing length required for further sending the golf ball by one morefootstep, and it is obtained by dividing the number of the scale marksof the backswing spot by the number of the footsteps that the golf balltravels. For example, when the golf ball travels 12 footsteps by abackswing of 10 the scale marks, the personal coefficient is0.8(10÷12=0.8).

The measured personal coefficient should be adjusted according to theactual green condition, based on your experience of prior adjustments ofthe scale coefficient. That is, types and lengths of the turf, weathercondition, a grain of the green, a slope and direction (i.e. upgrade ordowngrade) of the green are assessed and then the scale coefficient isadjusted based thereon. For example, the green coefficient is reduced(e.g. down to 0.4) when the ball is expected to run faster, i.e. whenthe speed of the ball should be reduced. In contrary therewith, when thegolf ball is expected to run slower, i.e. when the speed of the ballshould be increased, the green coefficient is increased to a requireddegree.

Finally, the number of the required backswing scales is calculated.

A formula for calculating the number of the required backswing scales is“the number of footsteps×the adjusted scale coefficient=the number ofthe required backswing scales.” For example, assuming that a distance toa hole is 12 footsteps and the green coefficient is 0.9, the number ofthe required backswing scales is approximately 11 (more precisely, 10.8scales). However, when the slope of the green is an upward slope and thegolf ball is required to be hit harder, an experiential value (e.g. 0.3)is added to the personal coefficient. Accordingly, the adjusted greencoefficient is calculated to be 1.2, so that the number of the requiredbackswing scale becomes 12×1.2=14.4 (approximately 14.5) that is higherby 3.5 scales than in a normal condition.

Accordingly, the putting may be performed by a backswing of the numberof the calculated scales (i.e. a multiple of the golf ball size).

The calculation of the scales is performed by mental arithmetic, byllowing “scale coefficient table,” or by using a small electroniccalculator. [Scale coefficient table] Scale coefficient 1.0 0.1 0.2 0.30.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.05 Footstep 20 20.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.014.0 16.0 18.0 1.0  10 10.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 0.5 11.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.1 2 2.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.01.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 0.1 3 3.0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.7 0.2 4 4.00.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.2 3.6 0.2 5 5.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.03.5 4.0 4.5 0.3 6 6.0 0.6 1.2 1.8 2.4 3.0 3.6 4.2 4.8 5.4 0.3 7 7.0 0.71.4 2.1 2.8 3.5 4.2 4.9 5.6 6.3 0.4 8 8.0 0.8 1.6 2.4 3.2 4.0 4.8 5.66.4 7.2 0.4 9 9.0 0.9 1.8 2.7 3.6 4.5 5.4 6.3 7.2 8.1 0.5   0.5 0.5 0.10.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 ignore

The measurement by using the table will hereinafter be described.

1. When the number of footsteps (e.g. 14.5 footsteps) and the scalecoefficient (e.g. 1.25) are determined, the number of the backswingscales is calculated as the sum of values calculated for respectivedigits of the scale coefficient. The number of the scale below the firstdecimal place is discarded in the calculation.

a. A value corresponding to a first decimal number (0.2) of the scalecoefficient (1.25) is calculated. At this time, among numbers arrangedin a column of 0.2 scale coefficient, the numbers in rows of respectivedigits of the number of the footsteps (10 footsteps, 4 footsteps, and0.5 footsteps) are selectively added, and therefore the value of 2.9 isobtained by a sum of 2.0, 0.8, and 0.1.

b. A value corresponding to a 1.0 of the scale coefficient (1.25) is thenumber of the footsteps (14.5). When the first digit number is 2.0, thevalue would be doubled, i.e. to 29.0.

c. A value corresponding to the second decimal (0.05) of the scalecoefficient (1.25) is a value (0.7) obtained by dividing a one-tenth ofthe number of the footsteps (originally 1.45 but truncated to 1.4) inhalf.

d. A value obtained by adding the values of a, b, and c is the number ofthe scales of the backswing, i.e. 18.1 is obtained from 2.9+14.5+0.7.

2. The value 0.05 of the coefficient is rarely used only when a furtherdetailed calculation is required.

Various practices may be performed according to the exemplary mat of thepresent invention.

1. Putting within 3 m (10 ft) (The first phase)

The putting stroke within 3 m is crucial for lowering your scoresbecause one more putt is required when the putting stroke is notsuccessfully performed.

A putting practice within 3 m may be performed while placing the golfball in various distances (e.g. several footsteps or several footstepsand a half) from the imitative hole cup on the putting line 6.

Take the small circle 16 as your imaginary target point to putt to, asthe lines of the putt on the green are mostly curved and there are rarechances of aiming directly to the hole. And you better send your ballpast the target half a footstep longer.

Firstly, the scale coefficient of the mat is predetermined, because thespeed of the golf ball on the mat 2 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention has its own speed. The golf ball is placed at thevarious distances (e.g. several footsteps or several footsteps and ahalf) from the imitative hole cup mark 8 on the putting line 6, thenumber of the backswing scales is calculated by multiplying the numberof the footsteps (in more detail, with half a footstep added thereto) bythe scale coefficient of the mat, and the putting stroke is practiced bythe calculated number of the backswing scales. In order to roll on thegolf ball more accurately, the putting stroke is practiced with aprecision of a half scale or a first digit below the decimal point ofthe scale.

The direction of the putt is checked by observing the trajectory of thegolf ball B, and the speed is checked by checking how far the golf ballB passes the imitative hole cup mark 8. When the golf ball runs too fastin a real game, the ball may bounce out from the hole after droppingthereinto.

2. Putting over 3 m (The second phase)

The putting stroke over 3 m is for approaching the golf ball closely tothe hole or directly dropping the golf ball into the hole at the firstputt in a middle or a long distance.

The putting practice of the middle or the long distance over 3 m may beperformed by the various backswing lengths. The golf ball B is placed onthe right side of the putting line 6 while leaving a sufficient spacefor backswing, and the small circle 16 of the hole cup mark 8 isregarded as the imaginary target point.

Because most of the putts on an actual green break due to the variousconditions of the green, an imaginary target point is firstly set andthe golf ball is putted to pass the imaginary target point, by thebackswing length determined according to the adjusted scale coefficientand the putting distance. Accordingly, during the practice, the numberof footsteps for the middle or long distance practice is determinedfirst, the backswing length is calculated by multiplying the scalecoefficient of the mat by the number of the footsteps you want topractice, and the backswing is performed with the calculated backswinglength so that the golf ball B passes the target point and hits thestopper 4.

The putting stroke is practiced with various backswing lengths. At thistime, the direction is checked by the golf ball's trajectory toward themiddle circle 14, and the distance is estimated by the golf ball's speedat a time that the golf ball passes the target point.

3. Putting practice on the blank of the mat 2 (The third phase)

This putting practice on the blank of the mat 2 is a preliminarypractice to cope with various situations in a game on the actual greenwhere you should just imagine your putting line and the scale marks onit. In this case, an imaginary putting line and scale marks are setwhile placing the golf ball B on the blank of the mat 2 rather than onthe putting line 6. This putting practice is for mastering a puttingtechnique with aligning the logo or the lineup line 12 of the golf ballwith an imaginary target point, setting the imaginary scale marks andputting line extended backward and forward from the center line of theball, and determining the backswing spot and throughswing spot.

First, the golf ball B is placed on any point you want to practice onthe blank of the mat 2.

The logo or the lineup line 12 of the golf ball is aligned with thesmall circle 16, the center line of the putter face is aligned straightwith the logo or lineup line of the ball, and then the imaginary puttingline and scale marks are set. Then the putting practice is performed inthe same way as in the practice of putting within 3 m and over 3 m.

As described above, the present invention has following advantages.Using the putting line 6 and the scale marks 10, you may learn toaccurately putt the golf ball to a desired direction by checking andrevising your motion of swinging while straightly moving the putteralong the putting line and keeping the putter face square to the puttingline. By using the new System of Scale Coefficient by which thebackswing length is numerated and calculated by the number of thescales, you may improve the accuracy of the putting distance. And so,these advanced putting techniques for both the intended direction anddistance of the putt bring you the better result which has not beenexpected in the prior art when playing a real game.

While this invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to thedisclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to covervarious modifications and equivalent arrangements included within thespirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. A scale mark mat for putting practice comprising: a rectangular mathaving a stopper formed by rolling an end of the mat around acylindrical object or a pipe; a putting line straightly drawn by apredetermined length along the center of the rectangular mat and equallydivided by scale marks for eye measurement; and an imitative hole cupmark marked at an end of the putting line on the surface of therectangular mat.
 2. The scale mark mat of claim 1, wherein the imitativehole cup mark comprises a medium circle of a golf ball size, and a smallcircle smaller than the medium circle; and a circle of the imitativehole cup mark, the medium circle, and the small circle which are piledconcentrically are drawn in different colors.
 3. The scale mark mat ofclaim 1, wherein a length of the scale mark corresponds to a diameter ofa hole cup, an interval of the scale marks corresponds to a diameter ofa golf ball, and small scales having a length corresponding to thediameter of the golf ball are drawn between the scale marks.
 4. Thescale mark mat of claim 1, wherein the rectangular mat comprisesnon-woven fabric having a surface with turfy effect, and the backside ofthe mat is coated with a polyethylene layer so that the putting line ismaintained straight.
 5. The scale mark mat of claim 1, wherein thediameter of the cylindrical object or the pipe is three times of thediameter of the golf ball, and the length of the cylindrical object orthe pipe is equal to the width of the mat.